Monday, May 26, 2014

Our first visit to Bombshell Beer Company came courtesy of a Living Social special - but then did half the people on the tour that afternoon when we made our trek over to Holly Springs. The night before our tour, Jen and I met Bombshell's head brewer, Steve O'Neill, while at Wine 101 Wake Forest. I told him I would keep my drinking to a minimum, so I can enjoy more beer the next day. He agreed, and so I ordered a pint of Bombshell's Lemongrass IPA. I'll save the rest for tomorrow, I told him.

At the brewery, we sat at the bar looking over the beer menu for several minutes before they announced the start of the 3 pm tour. Bombshell's co-founder Ellen Joyner led the group of 20 people through the doors leading to where the magic happens. Joyner discussed in detail how Bombshell came to fruition to buying steel made here in the USA for brewing materials. After a 30 minute tour of the facility, and another pint of Lemongrass IPA, the tour ended. The group then made it's way back to the bar to pick up the rest of the swag that came with the Living Social special: 2 pint glasses and a growler filled with your favorite Bombshell suds.

Prices range from $4.50 to $5.00 for a pint to as low as $1.50 for a 5-ounce sample. With Bombshell having a selection of 8 beers on tap, we decided to sample a flight of beer, which consist of five 5-ounce pours for $6.50. For our flight, we selected the Polished Pilsner, Hey! Honey! Hefeweizen, Pick-Up Porter and Dirty Secret Stout (both the oatmeal and dry Irish batches).

Our favorite was a toss up between the pilsner and the oatmeal stout. While the hefeweizen was my least favorite, towards the end of the sample it actually started to grow on me. As far as filling up our growler – it was the light-bodied pilsner that wound up in there.

Bombshell is open Thursday 4pm-9pm; Fridays 3pm-11pm; Saturdays 12pm-11pm and Sundays 1pm-6pm. The bear has live music on Fridays and Saturdays, and food trucks out front will supply you with nourishment.